Domestic Goddess

About Me

Self-taught artist & poet (by accident), addicted to Indian 'masala' chai, obsessed with Indian traditions, loves art in any form and looks for it everywhere. Stay-at-home mother for 2 beautiful girls. They inspire me everyday as I see the world thru their eyes.

Monday, 21 March 2011

If you ask almost anyone if they have heard of Zen, the answer is usually yes, but when you ask them what Zen is,the answer usually varies greatly. The word Zen appears in book titles and books are written about experiences where Zen has allegedly played a part. The idea is popular. But the practice of Zen is not so popular, in the sense that few people acually practice Zen - consciously that is.

The fruit of Zen practice is an awareness, a heightened sense of feeling and sensitivity that one develops in doing what comes naturally.

You can consider Zen both as a discipline, a very strict and demanding discipline,and as an attitude, or outlook or approach to life. Zen has no philisophy of its own: it is simply a method of learning, of observing, and of experiencing what you do every day, anyway.

Zen is a philisophy of will power - one forges an iron will and an indomitable spirit. It is based on self-reliance. Profound honesty is required in Zen practice. There is no result in Zen practice. It is the effort you make to improve yourself that is measured.

As one way of practicing Zen, one sits in a cross-legged position. With your hand relaxed, your arms relaxed, your shoulders relaxed, you begin to breathe in a controlled, rhythmic breathing. The breathing is deep, nourishing you with oxygen; your nostrils flare and your abdomen, perhaps for the first time in your life, breathes for you. Thoughts fly through your head.You are admonished to concentrate on your breathing to measure it, feel it, be aware of it. The thoughts increase: the day's activities, your problems, your fears, a million things fly by. You snap back into where you are, and what you are doing. The more you try to concentrate on one thing, the more it slips away. Later, when you become experienced, you will not try to stop your thinking. You will let it stop by itself. You will let it go. You will realize that nothing outside of you causes you trouble or anguish or guilt or doubt. When a thought occurs to you, and you spend time thinking about it, it is said that your mind has stopped at that point. This ''stopping mind'' is the heart of the problem. When your mind ''stops'' to question or decide or judge - when you are concentrating on that, you lose track of what is still going on.

But the flow does not stop when you do. It just passes you right by. When the mind is stopped for too long, it causes you not only to falter, but maybe to lose days in responding to a problem.

The initial concept with which Zen training breaks open your doors to understanding is ''beginner's mind''. School of Zen tells you to learn as ''plain and naive as an infant''.

The mind of an infant is empty; it is fresh. It has no preconceived ideas; it sees things as they are. It is free from the habits of experience and therefore open to all possibilities. The infant has no thoughts of achievement, and makes no demands. It makes no judgements, no distinctions. The infant lives in the absolute present. Above all, because he does not put one before another, the infant is compassionate.

Zen is a practical discipline. It wants you to act now, to experience this moment right now, directly. The effect of such action is to give you the power to cope. That is important in today's world. Furthermore,the resiliency that is developed in one's practice allows for appropriate responses. Coping appropriately is a key concept.

Zen is understanding without words. It is to apprehend the situation clearly and to see it for what it is, and not what you think it is. Reality must be experienced as it is. Does any word or even any thought accurately describe the feeling of being in love, or the heart-stopping fear of imminent death? It is understood by the Zen mind that the senses cannot grasp reality from one viewpoint. When the light goes on, one says, ''the light is on.'' But are you aware of the absence of darkness? Have you considered all sides of the situation, in your observation of it? Zen prapares you to look at this.

They say - If you want to see, see right at once. When you begin to think, you miss ths point.' To know and to act are one and the same. Be natural. Intellectual understanding is not always sufficient to effectively communicate.

Think of any activity that you perform that you are good at. It can be anything - Banking, cooking, tennis, speechmaking, organising. What is it that makes you good at it? Is it your training, or the tools you use? Or is it the experience you have accumulated in doing it? It is all these things in varying degrees, but the missing element is the crucial one. Your attitude, your approach, the sense of confidence, and purpose (no hesitation) you bring to your activity is what people observe when they say you are '' good at it.''

Zen is a practice for life; in Zen first comes the technique, practiced so many times that it is forgotten. Then you begin to use it. It is when you do not think about it anymore that you do it so well. Zen is no more than that. But it is reaching that state that the training is all about. The tennis pro who flies around the court, making impossible shots, does so not because of any superhuman qualities but because he has practiced and practiced, as the dancer has, until the movements are internalised. There is no longer any conscious direction in the movement. When you marvel at the way someone whips up a dinner for ten on short notice, or the way someone makes an impromptu speech, you are marvelling at the same thing - the approach, the confidence, the naturalness of the behaviour. There was no time to prepare, no time to think, no time to hesitate. there you are. ZEN.

Zen is also a social philisophy. A goal of Zen is to realize your potential as a human being. The 'self' is understood not only as an individual, but as a member of the community of individuals (society).
Zen stresses self-perfection, and in so practising, one tends to be more aware of one's place in the world, not in the sense of dedication or preseverance. If you have ever tried really hard to get something, and accomplished it, you know the feeling. It is a sense of self-satisfaction. You carried out your plans. You accomplished your goal. You felt good! But if you can do that yourself, why Zen?

Zen disciplines you to feel that everyday, in everything you do. You become more observant, more sure, and more confident. The effect of this change is to reduce your ego: the more confident you are, the less likely you are to boast or brag. But if your confidence is in only one activity that you perform, your ego (your personal advertising agency) will boost your confidence for you in other ways. All the cheerleading in the world will not help you win the game. If it is you who you have confidence in and not just your skills, if you are satisfied with yourself, you will be humble and quiet and peaceful. You will not have the desire to show off. When you are confident, truly at peace, you are also benevolent. Your ego does not keep you from reaching out to lend a helping hand, or from being compassionate. Your ego is not there to interfere. You do it because you feel like doing it, and there is nothing to stop the feeling.

When you eat, just eat. When you walk, just walk. When you sit, just sit. Your body knows how to do that already. When you play tennis, just play tennis. Approach the situation for what it is, and nothing more: whether you like it or not is irrelevant.

A Zen story illustrates this: Two monks were travelling in the rain, the mud sloshing under their feet. As they passed a river crossing, they saw a beautiful woman, finely dressed, unable to cross because of the mud. Without a word, the older monk simply picked up the woman and carried her to the other side.
the younger monk, seemingly agitated for the rest of their journey, could not contain himself once they reached their destination. He exploded at the older monk. '' How could you, a monk, even consider holding a woman in your arms, much less a young and beautiful one. It is against our teachings. It is dangerous.''
''i put her down at the roadside, ''said the older monk. ''Are you still carrying her?''

There is so much beauty, so much truth and love around us, but we so rarely slow down enough to notice, to appreciate. Sometimes it takes a tragedy or a great loss to remind us to slow down. The same happened with me after my father went....Life has changed for betterment. It has been elevated to a new level. Don't wait for anything like that to happen to you....SLOW DOWN. ﻿

Monday, 8 November 2010

From the jawdropping views, the glamorous penthouses to the private sandy beaches and the modern elegance of some of the residences - I have seen some of the most amazing and award-winning architectures and interior designs. When you live in an apartment overlooking a car park, it can get very depressing writing this post...'sigh'.

While some of the houses that I see may always remain on my "when I will win the lottery wishlist", regardless of the shape and size of your own home, we all know that when it comes to carving out your own space - our homes reflect our personality and character and all the different colour, textures and styles that involve.

So even if you are overlooking a car park, that doesn't mean you cannot be inspired to create your own heavenly hideaways. After all, we all start off with white walls....it's just up to us what we do with them!

I m sure you all will enjoy their blog as much as I do following them and getting inspired. Thank you my friends for all the lovely Decor ideas and much more....that you all share and leave a smile on my face.

I had a hectic last week and wrapping it up was more hectic and beautiful as it was Diwali. Yes I did my Diwali cleaning, painting of house, decorating some of the stuff (grandmoms) that reminded me of her...Miss u Daadu & Daadi. Wish you were with us...but I know your blessing are always with us.

Sharing with you all some of my home decor that I was able to do just in time before Diwali.

WELCOME HOME......

Leather Masks from Turkey...and my cute candle holders...
I wonder how small things can make you happy....

My shoe rack which I spray painted white...yes I went on this spray painting spree,,,'smiles'
Isn't it looking Beautiful....

rangolis round the house made by Taashu (my elder daughter) with stencil.
My painting and a traditional letter holder.....

This is where we practically have all days work discussed...had heard while eating no one should talk...but who follows that...Lolz

flower petals with candle on a brass plate can do wonders anywhere......

laxmi pujan....

sparklerssssssssssssssssssssss....

had kept henna session for kids and everyone got it.......

Before the party little tensed up..hope everyone enjoys......and they did 'big smile and a pat for me'

Thursday, 8 July 2010

A couple visited the Temple Of Golden Buddha, in Bangkok and were shocked to see that the temple itself was very small, probably no larger than thirty feet by thirty feet, but as they entered, they were stunned by the presence of a ten-and-a-half-foot tall, solid gold Buddha. It was quiet an Awesome sight - the kindly gentle, yet imposing solid-gold Buddha smiling down at them.

As they were taking pictures while oohing and ahhing over the statue, they walked over to a glass case that contained a large piece of clay about eight inches thick and twelve inches wide and next to the glass case was a typewritten page describing the history of this magnificent piece of Art.

Back in 1957 a group of monks from a monastery had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to make room for the development of a highway through Bangkok. When the crane began to lift the giant idol, the weight of it was so tremendous that it began to crack. Since it was raining also the head monk decided to lower the statue back to the ground and cover it with a large canvas tarp to protect it from the rain.

Later that evening he went to check on the Buddha to see if the Buddha was staying dry. He noticed a little gleam shining back and thought it was strange. As he took a closer look at the gleam of light, he wondered if there might be something underneath the clay. He went to fetch a chisel and a hammer and began to chip away the clay. As he knocked off shreds of clay, the little gleam grew brighter and bigger. Many hours of labor went by before the monk stood face to face with the extraordinary solid-gold Buddha.

It was believed that several hundred years ago the Burmese army was about to invade Thailand (then called Siam). The Siamese monks covered their precious golden Buddha with an outer covering of clay in order to keep their treasure from being looted by the Burmese. Unfortunately this well-kept secret remained intact until that fateful day in 1957.......

We all are like the clay Buddha covered with a shell of hardness created out of fear, and yet underneath each of us is a 'golden Buddha', 'a golden God', or a 'Golden Essence', which is our real self. Somewhere along the way, between the ages of two and nine, we begin to cover up our 'golden essence', our natural self.

" Much like the monk, with the hammer and the chisel, may we all discover our true essence once again."

Monday, 28 June 2010

I have grown up watching Ma and my Sister caring, loving, understanding, supporting and comforting everyone of us in the family. All the things they give daily, continually, without asking for anything in return. They have made me believe that if a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is practically nothing you can't do. Everyday we are breaking more role barriers , allowing ourselves to think independently about who we are and what success means to us..... prosperity means experiencing balance in life, attaining what we want on mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial levels. Prosperity is the natural result of opening our minds to our creative imaginations and being willing to act on our ideas. Whether eighteen or eighty - whether single, mother or gran - no matter race or creed - a common bond unites all women. They share the same hopes, fears, joys and sorrows. They understand each other's love, peace and pain. Their bond stretches around the globe nurturing it by power of their love....I believe that one woman's success can only help another woman's success......Hence this post is dedicated to all us women who are in their own eyes Domestic Goddess or super moms or just a woman! What more can you ask to be?